Electronic nanogenerator tattoos as human-machine interfaces

Nanowerk  April 19, 2022
Although triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have proven to be excellent candidates for wearable energy harvesters, they commonly face the hurdles of poor adhesion to skin and relative thick in geometry up to several cm. Researchers in China have introduced tattoo-like triboelectric nanogenerators (TL-TENGs) made with ultrathin materials with outstanding mechanical property of high robustness and thickness of tens of μm. They have remarkable electrical characteristics, with open-circuit voltage and short circuit current reaching up to ≈180 V and ≈2.2 μA under constant tapping (≈16 kPa), respectively. With the well structural mechanics designs, the TL-TENGs can be customized into various tattoo patterns. Demonstrations of TL-TENGs in energy harvesting and the human-machine interface indicate great potential in next generation wearable nanogenerators and internet of things…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE